Mary of Lourdes Catholic School
Little Falls, MN
Preschool - 8th Grade
Kindergarten
Mrs. Marjorie Markkanen
mmarkkanen@molschool.org
My name is Margie Markkanen. I began teaching kindergarten in September 2001. Prior to teaching at MOLES, I taught with the Early Childhood Family Ed program in Little Falls and Pierz for 11 years as a preschool teacher and parent educator.
I have three children who are all in their 30’s. They are alumni of Mary of Lourdes School and are very successful humans because of the education they received from this school.
I am married to Mr. Mike Markkanen. We got married in 2015. He is retired from a 30+ year career in law enforcement and decided to join our school family as the Head Custodian at the Elementary School. It is great fun to work together every day! He gifted me with two more sons when we got married, so together we have a blended family of 5 children. We also have two dogs that make us smile every day.
Teaching is my passion. I am blessed every day to do what I love. I also love to read, travel with my husband, and work outside on lots of different projects.
Mrs. Wanda Marie Gau
wgau@molschool.org
My name is Wanda Marie Gau and I am one of the kindergarten teachers. I have been a Catholic School Educator since 1984. My husband and I have three daughters who are alumni and our two grandchildren are students at MOLS. Our family values the education received from Mary of Lourdes School!
I feel blessed to do what I feel called to do- help children know and love Jesus along with the beliefs of the Catholic Church. I feel very privileged to walk with children on their faith journey.
The kindergarten classroom is an exciting place with lots of opportunities to explore, wonder, and learn. We read, write, count, create, and play in an atmosphere that is supportive of the varied learning styles. Kindergarten is awesome!
Curriculum
Language Arts/Communication:
-Be ready to read and write skillfully for many purposes.
-Be able to listen for information, think clearly and solve problems about language.
-Listen to, tell, and talk about books and stories with skill, for a variety of purposes.
-Students will be able to draw and tell about pictures to show ideas and sequence.
-Learn to tell about thoughts in a group discussion.
Math:
-Understand the relationship between quantities and whole numbers up to 31.
ie: count forward and backward, read, show value, show more and less, compare and order.
-Recognize, create, complete, and extend patterns. ie: AB, AAB, AABB, ABC
-Recognize two and three dimensional shapes and use them to model real-world objects.
-Compare, order and measure objects.
Science:
-Understand the five senses and how they help us.
-Know about common plants and common animals.
-Learn about physical environment.
-Know about nutrition and the food groups.
Social:
-Learn why rules are important and how to stay healthy and safe.
-Recognize the difference between needs and wants.
-Know a map and where things are.
-Be able to tell how people are alike and different.
-Know the difference between past, present, and future.
-Be able to tell about their family and compare it to others.
Religion:
-Students will learn to pray in many different ways, recite prayers and Bible verses, and learn about the Roman Catholic Church,
the Feast days and holidays.